Most people are aware of the numerous benefits of having a trademark registration on Principal Register from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In fact, trademark owners are urged by trademark attorneys to select distinctive marks solution to to be able to, upon handy in interstate commerce, be registered there and enjoy numerous presumptions such as validity, ownership, and notice. However, the Supplemental Register also has value, especially when the alternative is out of the question the first time.
Before the benefits of being supplementally registered is discussed, it is important to understand that that your supplemental registration does not provide. Marks are often relegated to the Supplemental Register because, at the request of the USPTO examining attorney, the marks are merely descriptive and therefore not a distinctive identifier of the source of the services or goods to which the objective pertains. Such placement does not pay the exclusive right unit the mark in commerce in experience with its identified services or goods. Equally important, it does not serve as prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark or of the Trademark Attorney in India registrant’s ownership from the mark. Finally, it is an admission that the mark is not inherently distinctive.
While these drawbacks obviously warrant a mark owner’s should be registered on the key Register, a supplemental registration has primary advantages of its own. In fact, some entities choose to possess a brand that tells consumers what this is they are offering (e.g. Pizza Restaurant) as opposed to an inherently distinctive mark (.e.g. Domino’s) that needs effort to create consumer recognition. Such marks are not going to warrant principal placement, whilst they be supplementally disclosed. After five years on the Supplemental Register, the mark may qualify for the principal Register due with out having acquired distinctiveness. It is worth noting that both allow the owner to use the registered trademark symbol, sue in federal court, and take benefit from certain international agreements.
Thus, any registration with the USPTO is better than having no trademark registration at everything. While ultimately the Principal Register provides the most benefits and best protection, the Supplemental Register should be considered where an entity prefers what may be a merely descriptive mark at the outset or did not acquire the requisite distinctiveness to be registered on where lots of deem as favored spot.